


First Meetings

by NachoZhere



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Balinor Lives (Merlin), Boys Being Boys, Boys In Love, Boys Will Be Boys, Canon Era, Children, First Meetings, Fluff, Growing Up, M/M, Magic, Non-Canon Relationship, Oblivious, Oblivious Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Oblivious Merlin (Merlin), Portraits, Uther Pendragon Never Banned Magic (Merlin)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-03
Updated: 2019-10-03
Packaged: 2020-11-22 15:46:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20876705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NachoZhere/pseuds/NachoZhere
Summary: "why are you in a magical portrait?""I could ask you the same question, and why are you on a horse?"orIn which Merlin and Arthur as young and rosy-cheeked little boys first meet through mutual magical portraits (it's like facetime but magical). In which Uther never banned magic and Ygraine is still alive. In which Balinor is still alive and Merlin is a dragonlord with a different destiny.





	First Meetings

It all started the day that Arthur, against his parent's wishes, rode a horse into the castle and stopped at the end of the hallway, very much proud of himself for leading his stallion through the tricky halls of the castle.

As Arthur beamed at himself, not noticing the portrait right in front of him showing the face of a boy peering directly at him in curiosity.

"Strange, I've never seen this ugly painting before here.."

Arthur started, and turned to face the source of the sound to find said portrait which showed a boy around his age who had black hair, pretty blue eyes and strangely large ears. It seemed that Arthur moving also surprised the other boy, since the latter jolted like Arthur had and fell backwards. Arthur winced at the crashing sound that followed.

After waiting a few moments, the top of the black hair appeared and then he could see the face of the boy again. So it went, the two staring at each other, too shocked for words.

It was Arthur who spoke first, "why are you in a magical portrait?"

The boy raised an eyebrow at him, "I could ask you the same question, and why are you on a horse?"

Arthur looked down, feeling like a bit of a fool, having been caught in the moment, he completely forgot about the animal, blushing as he looked back at the other boy, Arthur did his best to come back with a response, "I don't know, why are your ears so big?"

A look of rage took over the face of the latter, and Arthur was quite happy he was on the other side of the portrait.

After putting the horse away, the two boys were surprisingly able to have a civilised conversation and Arthur was very impressed by the fact that the other boy -Merlin, he found- stayed calm even after the insult that the blonde had thrown. Of course, there were still plenty of jabs being thrown around, but nothing bad came of them.

The next day, Arthur took the portrait down and brought it to his room, so that he could communicate better with Merlin without needing to stand on a chair. It was awkward of course, and Arthur did admit that at the end one of the knights did help the boy with his endeavors.

Merlin, it seemed, had done the same and Arthur was able to see the room of the other boy. It was large, like his and well decorated. So Merlin wasn't a servant by the looks of it, so then who was he? Arthur made it his mission to ask about it.

When Merlin finally appeared, the boy started a bit at seeing that Arthur was already there waiting (it wasn't like the prince truly had anything to do, his mother and father said he was too young, even though he thought 7 was already very old).

Merlin tilted his head, "I can't believe that you're actually still here, I mean, I've seen a lot of magic in the past bu-"

Arthur brightened at the word, "you've seen magic?"

The comment made Merlin tilt his head even more and Arthur was a bit worried the other boy would fall over, "well yes, I'm a warlock bu-"

"Can you show me some?"

With that, Arthur completely forgot about his mission and alternated to watching the other boy create little dragons and butterflies using his hands. It wasn't often he was able to see much magic, most sorcerers were very successful (seeing that one individual is capable of creating as many products as a 100 stores in the same amount of time) and never had the need to perform magic for entertainment. The only magic he was able to see was either when he visited stores in the city with his mother or just tricks from parlour magicians who weren't really that good. So it was great dun to see somebody do such entertaining magic for a change.

"Don't most sorcerers need spells?"

Merlin scowled, which is a very terrifying thing since when he smiles Arthur swears rainbows appear, "I am a warlock, not a sorcerer, I was born with magic, I don't need spells."

"Oh."

And so the day went by with Merlin performing tricks and Arthur watching. For some strange reason, the two never spoke of why they were speaking through portraits, but children were children and so it was never spoken of.

***

"Arthur you prat stop complaining about the girl, I don't care if you hate her or not, she's your half sister, deal with it. Her parents died, I'm sure hitting and torturing you with any object she can find is her way of coping."

Arthur pouted and watched as Merlin tried to untangle his long and gangly limbs so that he could sit up on his bed at the other side of the portrait.

As the two boys grew, they developed very different body types. 

Arthur, as the prince had trained day by day once he was old enough to (and it made him wish to go back to the days of naivety) to gain the strength he was expected to have as a king. although swinging a sword was cool and all, he was sometimes too tired to even move by the end of the day. Sometimes he wished he were Merlin.

Merlin, as a warlock had no need to truly build on his physical strength, although he did try to do daily exercise. Merlin had no mandatory need to overexert his body in such a way and was allowed to rest in the morning, but as a result he spent much of his days doing work on paper since he was meant to be some sort of adviser to a very important person, this was Merlin's description, he wasn't very detailed on it, he said he didn't have much part in the decision, it was some sort of destiny. Kind of like the court sorcerer that his father had been planning on getting for him (yes, Gaius was good and all, but he was also getting old). He even had to go all the way into the night sometimes to be able to talk to Arthur once a week (and Merlin loved complaining about this fact). As said before, Arthur only _sometimes_ wished he was Merlin.

Anyways, as a result, Arthur grew to have a very broad and muscular body and took pride in it, a special gift from his hard work. Days under the sun turned his hair a blinding gold and his skin tan. He must admit, one incident in a bar fight left him with slightly crooked front teeth but hey, he found it charming.

Merlin, Arthur observed, had become very whimsical. His lack of physical work made him slender (but Arthur couldn't tell how tall Merlin was since, you know, he was looking through a portrait). Days without sun left his skin very soft and pale. His hair was just as dark as the day Arthur first met the warlock and unlike Arthur's short hair, Merlin had allowed his to reach his shoulder. If Arthur was being truthful, the prince would say that Merlin was very beautiful.

But it wasn't only the magic caster's physical appearance which the royal figure had found beautiful, but also his personality. Merlin, from the stories they shared with each other, was as noble as any knight and caring. He hated hunting, and it may have appeared weak, but Arthur always felt his heart melt slightly whenever he found a day where Merlin would be cuddling with an animal on his bed after having saved it. Not that Arthur had any feelings for the other young man, Merlin was a prat (although Merlin would probably say the same about Arthur).

"but Morgana is an insufferable witch. Not that I hate her because of the magic or the prophetic dreams, I'm fine with all that bu-"

"quiet, I must study, and I cannot do that with you yammering like a scullery maid."

Arthur glared at him before letting it go. Then he remembered something.

"Merlin, my father has been planning on getting me my own court sorcerer, since Gaius will soon be retiring..."

Merlin made a small sound of acknowledgement, not even looking up from his book. Arthur could feel nerves building up in his throat and he almost completely dismissed the idea completely, but he knew he had to ask.

"I would much prefer it if you were in that position. I'd like it much more than having to deal with some stranger."

Merlin's head snapped up from his book with a look of shock on his face. The black haired boy appeared to be considering it for a few mere moments before a sad look appeared on his eyes and Arthur felt his heart drop.

"I''m sorry Arthur, it's just, my position has been written in the stars even before my birth, I can't give it up now... I-"

"No, I get it," Arthur cut in, but he really didn't, he didn't understand why this destiny was so important for Merlin. "I should've guessed you would choose some stupid prophecy over your best friend." 

The prince couldn't take it anymore, so he opted to just walk away from the portrait, the last thing he heard was "Arthur that's not fair! I..." and everything else faded away.

***

a week before his eighteenth day of birth and a week after his last conversation with Merlin, Arthur found himself having a conversation with his parents at the dining hall. Unlike some of his knight friends, he found that he had a very good relationship with his mother and father. They never pushed about finding a bride and were kind. If not a bit strict, but it was reasonable since, you know, the fate of the kingdom was in his hands.

Uther was a very blunt man and he did what he wanted, but there was a beautiful side of him which only seemed to show when Ygraine was around. Their besotted looks made Arthur hope for something like that in the future, but at present he had no wish to get betrothed to any woman (or man, he had considered it). Perhaps if Uther had never met Ygraine, he would have been a very hard man, but Ygraine always had a way to bend her husband to her will. Arthur was never scared to share anything with them, they even once had a conversation about lovers in the future. Uther of course had been upset at first, but then said that he supported Arthur whoever he chooses, as long as he creates an heir.

"Arthur, it's going to be your eighteenth day of birth soon, and I believe the world is ready to meet you."

Arthur straightened a little. Ygraine had always been protective of him so he rarely went to any huge events, so he was ecstatic about the idea of finally meeting the kings, queens and nobles of other lands.

"Really?"

His parents nodded, "we believe you are now mature enough and capable of protecting yourself if any situation arises."

"When will this be?"

"well, there will be a grand ball on the celebration of your day of birth. We also believe that it would be the perfect time for your court sorcerer to come to Camelot. You will rule the moment we either step down or die, so we must know that your most trusted adviser and you can get along. He will arrive by the night of the next day."

Arthur groaned, he didn't want to meet his future adviser. He had planned on Merlin being in that position, and that was no longer an option.

His father's mouth formed a straight line at the sound, "don't you groan at your mother young man, you are a capable young man now and there is no need for such immature reactions. Do not fret, this decision is out of your hands."

Morgana who was sitting at the opposite side of the table snickered at the sight of their father scolding Arthur. Arthur's parents were obviously under the spell of Morgana, even Ygraine -who wasn't even Morgana's real mother- loved her as her very own. To Arthur, she was a nightmare to handle, and Morgana loved seeing Arthur in trouble.

Ygraine put a hand on Uther's shoulder and the king immediately backed down slightly at the contact, "your father is right Arthur, but the decision of who will be your court sorcerer is also out of our hands. Like how the druid chose the magical adviser for your father, they have also chosen yours. We have yet to know his name ourselves. Nevertheless, I have much faith that you will both become very good friends with a very special bond."

_not as special as the bond Merlin and I had_ Arthur thought bitterly.

"He's known as Emrys to the druids, he's meant to be the most powerful magic user in all of the kingdoms. He will be a great asset in your future Arthur."

All Arthur could do was nod.

***

When the sun rose high in the sky, Arthur felt extremely irritated. The conversation yesterday conjured up all of the buried memories of his conversations with Merlin. The morning was a blurred mess to Arthur but by noon, he found himself with a few of his friends and throwing knives at Henry who was forced to move around with a target. To his defence, he didn't often do this but he's supposed to meet somebody he will be stuck with for the rest of his life and Arthur is quite sure that gives him the liberty to do what he wants.

the servant dropped the target after a particularly hard throw and it rolled to a stop at the foot of another young man who was currently looking down at his foot where the target was.

"hey, come on, that's enough."

Arthur stepped back a bit. That voice... it can't be...

"Merlin?"

The young man looked up to show the face that Arthur has known since he was a child but has never seen in the glaring light of the sun. He was wearing his red neckerchief like he always did but instead of his usually very lucurious clothes, he had replaced it with an atrocious brown jacket. It really needed to burn...

The warlock's eyes widened slightly, ".. Arthur?"

A moment passed where they just looked at each other before Merlin's eyes narrowed, "seriously? throwing knives at innocent people? I thought you were better than that."

And so the young man marched off towards the castle.

It wasn't until Merlin was out of sight before he came to the realization that he missed the chance to finally touch Merlin.

"Bollocks!"

***

After a very uneventful afternoon in which Arthur just lied in bed thinking about the opportunity he just passed by and the misunderstanding which just occurred. Fuck, Arthur was finally able to meet Merlin in real life and he fucked it up because of just one bad day. What does Merlin think of him now?

As he walked into the dining hall, the rest of his family, Arthur noticed, were more cheerful than usual. Strange...

"Ah, Arthur, you've finally arrived, the court sorcerer arrived in the afternoon if you would like to know. He's already had dinner so he's currently inside his accommodation. We would like you to speak to him after dinner, he's a very nice young gentleman, I believe you would like him."

And that's what Arthur did. After dinner, Arthur walked the halls of the castle and up the stairs to the door of the room Ygraine had described. It was one of the more luxurious rooms of the castle. Arthur really didn't want to deal with anybody at that moment but he knew it was his duty to at least say hi.

So he opened the door to show a young man lying on the bed in the chamber with his back facing Arthur.

"Hello..?"

The man on the bed jolted a bit before sitting up. This was it, Arthur was about to meet the more powerful magic user alive...

"Merlin?"

It suddenly made sense. Of course it would be Merlin, it was always Merlin, they were meant for each other. How Arthur did not see it earlier he didn't know but it was so clear now. Before Merlin could respond, Arthur leaped onto him, shutting the magic user up with a kiss on the lips.

They stayed like that for 10 minutes, huddled together on the bed and enjoying each other's contact after years of so much distance apart.

"I've been waiting to do that for forever."

"Really?"

"yes"

"so you're the future king of this blasted land? unbelievable."

"and you're the most powerful sorcerer alive? even more unbelievable."

"You know it's called a warlock you dollophead."

"I see you still have not mastered the art of insult names, prat."

"Yes, and I see you have still not mastered the art of creative insult names, cabbagehead."

"Come wth me to the ball?"

"... Sure."

"I've been waiting for that too."

Merlin raised his eyebrows, "Really? What else have you been waiting for?"

Arthur gave a smirk, "well..."

**Author's Note:**

> Extremely non-canonical but hey, it's fanfiction. Yoller or comment if you want a follow-up.


End file.
